In Vietnam, crackdown on journalists in past six months

New
York, October 3, 2011--The
Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent crackdown on freedom of expression in Vietnam
and calls on the government to immediately and unconditionally release all of
the journalists detained in the country.

In the past six months, at least nine journalists, all of
whom work primarily online, have been jailed in Vietnam.At the end of 2010,
CPJ counted only five journalists in jail.

"With these arrests, Vietnam
now ranks among the worst jailers of journalists in the world," said Bob Dietz,
CPJ's Asia program director. "The crackdown
under way underscores the Communist Party government's enduring fear of an
independent press scrutinizing its record, policies, and personalities. The
national security-related charges used to imprison these journalists are bogus
across the board."

On March 26, independent online journalist Lu Van Bay was
arrested after authorities raided his house and confiscated his computers and
materials, news reports said. On August 22, he was sentenced to four years in
prison and three years of house arrest on charges of conducting propaganda
against the state, a criminal offense under the penal code's Article 88,
according to press reports. The court's judgment specifically referred to 10
articles Bay wrote and posted on overseas websites--including Dam Chim Viet
(Vietnamese Birds), Doi Thoa (Dialogue), and To Quoc (Fatherland)--that
were critical of Vietnam's political system, Pen
International reported.

In recent weeks, online journalists Paulus Le Van Son, Dang
Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, and Nguyen Van Duyet--all of whom worked for independent
websites including Vietnam Redemptorist News and Bao Khong Le(Newspaper
Without Lanes), which provide news and commentary forbidden in the country's
state-controlled media--were detained under the criminal code's Article 79, which
outlines penalties for activities aimed at overthrowing the government, according
to Viet Tan, an exiled
pro-democracy group. The maximum penalties for violations of the code are life
imprisonment or capital punishment.

On August 3, Paulus Le Van Son, a private blogger and contributor to the Vietnam Redemptorist News and Bao Khong Le, was arrested by four
police officials in front of his home in the capital, Hanoi. News reports citing an eyewitness said
the officials knocked him to the ground from his motorcycle, grabbed his arms
and legs, and threw him into a police vehicle. He is being held at Hanoi's B14 Detention
Center, according to Viet Tan and news reports.

Dang Xuan Dieu, 32, and Ho Duc Hoa, 37, both social activists
and contributors to the Vietnam
Redemptorist News, were detained on July 30 at At Tan Son Nhat airport in
Ho Chi Minh City. On August 7, Nguyen Van Duyet, 31, also a contributor to the Vietnam Redemptorist News, was detained
in Vinh city, in Nghe An province. All three journalists are being held at Hanoi's B14 Detention
Center, Viet Tan reported.

The journalists' arrests come amid a growing crackdown on
dissent, in which dozens of social and political activists have been arrested.
The suppression follows the enactment of an executive decree in February that gave
authorities greater powers to penalize journalists and editors who report on
issues considered sensitive to national security.